Live shotgun cartridges dumped among batteries at recycling centre in Aberdeen

Live shotgun cartridges have been found dumped among household batteries at a recycling centre in Aberdeenshire.

Staff at Portlethen recycling centre found the items inside a battery box among household battery recycling while checking containers for contamination on July 23.

The cartridges were handed into Stonehaven police station for destruction.

The council said it was “lucky” that the items were discovered and removed, avoiding a “potentially dangerous situation”.

Shotgun cartridges that are still live should only be disposed of by surrendering them to a local police station or to a registered firearms dealer.

Ewan Wallace, environment and sustainability head of service at Aberdeenshire Council, said: “It was lucky that the site team spotted these so that they could be removed and dealt with safely. This was a potentially dangerous situation.

“Batteries are a known fire risk in our recycling streams, and to find live ammunition among them presents a real risk to staff, site visitors, and those we’ve contracted to transport and recycle the batteries.

“We are urging residents to, please, never take live ammunition to a household recycling centre and never place them in household bins. If unsure of where and how to recycle something, site staff are happy to help”

Small, domestic quantities (50 at most) of spent shotgun cartridges can be disposed of through normal household waste.